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Rhynie Description of stone
Event ID 1022140
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1022140
Rhynie 7, Barflat, Aberdeenshire, Pictish symbol stone
Measurements: H 1.78m, W 0.70m, D 0.39m > 0.13m
Stone type: gabbro boulder.
Place of discovery: NJ 4976 2636
Present location: Woodhill House, Aberdeen.
Evidence for discovery: found during ploughing in 1978 in a field to the south of the old kirkyard at Rhynie.
Present condition: scratched by the plough.
Description
This natural boulder is incised with the ‘formidable man’ symbol, facing right and walking to the right. He wears a belted tunic and his feet appear to be shod. He grasps with both hands an axe with a very narrow shaft resting on his right shoulder. Either a headdress or long hair flows midway down his back. His head is depicted with a large ear, bushy eyebrow over a prominent oval eye, hooked nose, beard, moustache and teeth bared in a snarl.
Date: seventh century.
References: Shepherd & Shepherd 1978; Fraser 2008, no 43.7.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2017
